


Enjoining

by Imrryr



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Sex Magic, Smut, Sometime After the Fall of Sunnydale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-15 19:55:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11238066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imrryr/pseuds/Imrryr
Summary: Faith needs to be magically charged in order to stop a particularly powerful demon.  Tara knows just the spell.  Faith/Tara, established relationship.





	Enjoining

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to write this after being inundated with feels courtesy of seventhreeoh’s fic ‘Sacrifice’ which can be read here: https://www.wattpad.com/424307167-sacrifice/
> 
> Anyway, there's probably some plot in this, but only if u squint.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Tara found herself pressed against it, her gasp silenced by soft, yet hungry lips.

Faith was just like a rubber band, she’d always thought, continuously being wound tighter and tighter until it snapped.  The bag full of supplies she’d had been carrying for Tara lay discarded on the floor as Faith expertly nudged her legs apart with a knee and pressed their bodies together.

The way dexterous fingers were soon clutching at Tara’s belt suggested she was wound up very tight indeed. 

Goddess, it was so easy to lose herself in Faith’s ardor, but in the tiny sliver of sky peeking through the drawn shades, Tara could see that dawn was not far off.  Sadly, this would have to wait.

But not for too long.

Though her arms were so much weaker than Faith’s, when Tara pressed against her shoulders she allowed herself to be pushed back, but not without trying to prolong the kiss for as long as she could.  So strong, yet so surprisingly gentle when it came to her, so willing to let Tara take the initiative.

She struggled to regain some composure as her girlfriend looked back at her with dark, smoldering eyes, hands letting go only reluctantly when Tara refastened her belt.  "There's something we have to do first."

Faith licked her lips.  When Tara followed her gaze, she found the top three buttons of her shirt had somehow been undone.  That might’ve happened on the ride up the elevator.  Hopefully not in the car. 

Faith only waggled her eyebrows at Tara's accusing look.  "Well,” she breathed, “I know what _I_ want to do."

Yes, very subtle.  "It's important to perform the spell as closely to sunrise as possible."

Faith swallowed, not bothering to hide her disappointment, not that she often hid anything anymore, she’d always had the most wonderfully expressive face.

Tara raised her hand, brushing fingers through soft, dark hair, admiring the way Faith shut her eyes and canted her head to allow her to touch wherever she wished.  She was so beautiful, often it was impossible to even begin to find the words to describe her, but alas, there was work to do now.

Back in Cleveland there were a lot of junior witches who longed to cast spells with a member of Buffy's inner circle, someone who had been powerful enough to wake all the potential slayers of the world, but Tara left them all for Willow and Dawn.  All that hero worship made her kind of uncomfortable.

When Tara needed a partner for her spells, there was only one person who would do.

“This will take some time to set up.”

“Okay,” Faith breathed, as Tara slipped the bag over her shoulder and her free hand wound its way around Faith’s back and urged her across the floor.  “I’ll try not to fuck it up.”

Giant windows spanned three walls of their massive hotel room.  The television and sofas had been pushed back to opposite sides of the wall as Tara had requested.  They would need space for what came next.  “You don’t have to look so worried.”

Faith shrugged.  “I mean, I have been trying to practice."

Tara slowed her steps.  "Practice?" she repeated.

"Yeah, I’ve even been taking lessons from Dawn.”

She blinked.  Lessons?  Dawn?  Huh.  Faith and magic were honestly kind of a dangerous combination.  Only a skilled witch should ever try combining the two.  Hopefully, Dawn knew what she was getting into.  “Faith?  What are you talking about?”

“Latin.  I’m trying to get a handle on it.”

‘ _Oh_ ,’ she thought.  That was a relief.  It was probably better for everyone if Faith didn’t have any aspirations of toying around with magic by herself.  She patted her back, impressed.  “Don’t worry.  This spell requires only a handful of words.”

She let out a long breath.  “Thank god.  I can’t string together anything longer than ‘nomen mihi est Faith.’  Fortunately, I doubt I’ll be running into too many people who speak Latin out here, unless the staff at Caesar’s Palace are really into historical accuracy.”

Tara strongly doubted it.  “And how’s your conjugation?” she asked, absently dropped her bag to the floor and sliding one of the blinds open, to reveal the city of Las Vegas under a lightening sky.  In less than half an hour, the sun would rise over the hills.  

“Oh, uh, Dawn says I’m doing well,” she smiled as she drew open another curtain, admiring the view of the Vegas Strip dozens of floors below them as it stretched on to the horizon, “but I don’t know that many verbs.”

“That’s still further than Buffy ever got.  She reads entirely from flash cards.”

Faith’s mood improved considerably upon hearing that.  “Yeah?  Huh.  Score one for me.”

As Faith continued excitedly opening the rest of the curtains and offering comments on how 'fucking sweet' the view was, Tara rummaged through her bag and began pulling out the required reagents.  Salt, for the portal.  Crystals, some of which exceeded the thousand-dollar mark.  Exactly seventeen candles.  Oh, and one magic gourd, which Tara had hollowed out a few nights ago.

Once all the curtains were open, Faith sat down crossed-legged in the center of the living room, right on the rug Tara had especially requested from the front desk.  "So, where do you want me?" she asked.  As always, there was faint hint of innuendo in the question that suggested the hoped-for answer would be ‘bed’.

Though she didn’t know it yet, Faith really was the ideal partner for this particular spell.  The woman was a dynamo; a constant well of energy.  It was why she made such an excellent slayer, and also why nights with her could sometimes leave Tara feeling like she had just run a marathon.  In bed.

“Right there is fine,” Tara replied as she spread the candles out on the floor.  “I set everything up, you recite a few words, I perform the necessary rituals, and in the end we’ll have one super-powered slayer.”

She nodded.  The basic purpose of the spell had already been explained in the car, though Faith had been a little distracted by all the bright lights of the casinos at the time.  “And what else do I do?”

“You just sit there.”

“Oh.”  Faith let out a breath, slumping against the floor.  Her brow furrowed.  “Is this because I screwed up your last spell?”

Tara met Faith’s look with a tilt of her head.  One of the problems with magic was that most spells requiring more than one person weren’t written with slayers in mind.  Average people didn't have the power of ancient demons running through the veins. 

Then there was also the fact that all spells, even the simplest, required the upmost concentration.

It was the latter as much as the former that created problems for the two of them, but honestly, none of that was really Faith’s fault.  She couldn’t help who she was; she just had a lot of energy, even for a slayer.  “You’ve never screwed up a spell in your life.”

Faith’s forehead crinkled.  “Uh, T?  Is your memory worse than mine?”  Then she started listing off every single spell they’d ever attempted together.  There was the locator spell which set their map on fire, then the sunshine spell which required an embarrassing trip to the infirmary, and finally the teleportation spell that accidently dropped Faith into Buffy's bed when she was in there with Satsu...

Awkward to say the least.

And every time the malfunction could be pinned down to a stray thought about the previous night together, a gentle touch of Tara’s thumb against the back of Faith’s hand, the warm heat of Tara’s breath in Faith’s ear as she recited the words that Faith needed to repeat.

Yeah, some things were just not going to happen, no matter how hard you asked.  Anya was not going to join the communist revolution.  Xander was never going to stop making bad jokes.  Faith was never going to stop thinking about sex.

And when it came to magic, sex was a very powerful thing indeed.

Still, Tara insisted on trying, no matter how demoralized Faith seemed to get about it all.  There were more important things than spells, and Tara wanted her to feel included in every part of her life.  Fortunately, Faith was nothing if not determined.  “None of that matters,” Tara said, “I don’t care if every spell we do together doesn’t go exactly as planned.  As long as you’re with me.”  She looked Faith right in the eye, “I don’t want to share my magic with anyone but you.”

Faith nodded.  “Okay…” she said softly, cheeks faintly pink.  “Cool.”

“Cool,” Tara repeated just as softly.

Faith smiled, shaking her head.  “So, I just sit here?”

“Actually, for this spell, I’m going to need you to lie on your back.”

“Oh.”  Faith blinked, looking over her shoulder.  “Uh… that’s different.”

Tara nodded as she gestured at the rug Faith was still sitting on.  Faith’s self-control today was admirable.  Honestly, Tara had predicted a ninety-nine-percent chance of sexual innuendos by this point.

Instead, Faith merely sprawled herself out and closed her eyes.  Tara was fairly sure she was deliberately stretching her arms out over her head in order to bunch up her shirt.  Faith knew how much Tara admired her body.  “Mmm, what now?”

“Now I have to create the ring,” Tara said a little breathlessly.

“Cool,” she replied, sighing as she relaxed, placing her hands over her bare chest and smiling to herself.

And so Tara took the beaker of salt and began drawing a wide circle around Faith and the rug, sure to provide plenty of space for them both.  After that came the setting and lighting of the candles: magical ones from Anya’s storehouse, which were to be lit only by magical matches.  She wasn’t exactly sure what was so magical about them, but they all came with a very generous – for Anya - two-percent discount.

After setting the first candle down, the first match she struck flared bright and caught the wick with ease.  Curiously, it didn’t burn steady, but waxed and waned in a perfect rhythm, like waves against the shore.  When her eyes turned to Faith, she noted how it synched perfectly with the rise and fall of the slayer’s chest.

Tara smirked.  There was so much power inside her and she didn’t even know the half of it.  “Faith?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you thinking of?”

“Last night,” she said dreamily.

The flames rose and the rhythm increased.  Yes, Tara remembered last night vividly.

“ _Faith_.”  She drew the name out to get her attention.  Spells were sensitive things.  They required complete concentration.  Too much energy at the wrong moment could have unfortunate consequences.  The kind of consequences that might send people like Tara flying through walls.

“Shit.  Sorry.  No lustful thoughts,” Faith muttered to herself.  “I keep forgetting.”

Tara had never once lost her patience with Faith when it came to magic.  If a spell didn’t work, then it just needed to be tweaked _to_ work.  There was no such thing as failure as far as she was concerned.  If this one didn’t work as expected, they could always try again some other time.  Meanwhile, it would be perfectly acceptable to call in backup from Slayer HQ.  A dozen of them could be teleported in before the noon, if Tara requested it, but still, it would be a shame not to at least try this spell first.  She knew Faith would enjoy it…

Until everything was set up, the important thing would be to keep Faith’s mind busy on things other than love-making.  “Recite the words to your favorite song.”

“Huh?  Oh.  You’re trying to distract me, right.”

Tara nodded to herself as she placed another candle.

Faith coughed like she preparing to deliver a speech.  “Crawling in my skin, these wounds they will not he-“

She looked up, narrowing her eyes.  “That is _not_ your favorite song.”

Faith feigned surprise.  “How did you know?”

Tara raised an eyebrow before Faith’s lips cracked into a smile.  “Please.  It’s ‘Living Dead Girl’.  Everyone knows that.”

“You know me all too well,” she laughed.

As Faith began to recite, Tara finished setting and lighting the remaining candles.  Their flames were still rising and falling with her breath, but there was nothing to be done about that now.  Fortunately, this spell would only work in Latin, so Rob Zombie’s oh-so-cerebral lyrics wouldn’t be effecting it.

When she heard hands rustling in the bag again, Faith raised her head and watched as Tara pulled out a long chord of rope.  “What’s that for?”

“I have to secure your arms.”

Again, the candles flared and Tara hardly needed to be able to read minds in order to know that a hundred different crude responses were bouncing around in Faith’s head, all jostling to escape her mouth first.  She beat them all to it.  “It’s required.”

“Uh huh.  You know I can easily break those ropes right?”

Tara smiled.  She knew that all too well.  “You’ll just have to control yourself, I guess.”  Faith continued to look up at her dubiously.  A lot was being asked of her, but Tara just continued to smile comfortingly back.  It struck her like this sometimes, just how lucky she was.  Faith trusted her completely.   If Tara suggested something, she would always at least try.

And she would always try her hardest.

"Next you're going to tell me I have to be naked."

Her cheeks went pink.  “Actually…”

Again the candles flared.  At this rate they’d burn to the floor before Tara was finished setting everything up.  “ _Faith_.”

“Shit.  But -”

“It’s alright.”

“What kind of spell _is_ this exactly?”

Once untangled, Tara set the rope aside.  The next part required using a pestle to crush a collection of crystals inside the gourd.  “It’s a variation on the enjoining spell.  You’ve heard of it?”

Her brow furrowed again before the memory returned to her, “Oh, that’s the spell B and the super-best-friends used to slay Frankenfucker, right?”

Well, that was one way of putting it, Tara supposed.  “Essentially.  Uh, just think of this as a version for two people.”

"Huh."

"Now take off your clothes."

"You're serious."

Tara tilted her head.  "Would I joke about that?"

Grinning, and with practiced ease, Faith had her shirt off in a flash, deliberately tossing it as far from the center of the room as possible, before she reached for her belt.  Despite herself, Tara's attention never wavered from Faith’s figure as she ground the crystals into dust.  She hoped the candles would last until the spell began.  With the way they were burning, it was going to be close.

Finally, Faith lay bare before her, every article of clothing, shirt, bra, pants, and underwear all tossed in opposite corners of the room in order to no doubt maximize the time she’d need to be naked before gathering them all back up.  She leaned back against her hands, reveling in the attention Tara was lavishing on her.  "Sure I can't tempt you?"

Tara blushed.  "Concentrate, please."

Faith pouted.  "That’s hard to do when you're looking at me like that."

Placing the gourd on the floor, she pulled out one final object from her bag, a black silken blindfold, which she tossed into Faith's lap.  "Put that on."

Sighing, Faith did as ordered.  "This won't help.  I can still picture you naked."

The fierceness with which the candles surrounding them now burned leant veracity to that statement, but short of dumping a bucket of cold water on her, there was little Tara could do other than talk about something else and hopefully provide some moderate amount of distraction before the candles burned all the way to the floor.   “There were complications from the version Giles used.  After Adam was defeated, the spirit of the First Slayer walked in their dreams and tried to kill them all.”

Faith tilted her head.  Evidently, that part hadn’t been passed on to her.  Not surprising, to be honest.  The younger witches at Slayer HQ inevitably found the successes more interesting than the unintended negative consequences.  It was why they needed training in the first place.

“A couple of weeks ago I discovered a similar spell that should accomplish more or less the same thing without the Freddy Kruger-ish side-effects.”

“Oh.  Sweet.  And I, uh, have to be naked for it?”

“Yeah.”

“Weird," she said after a beat, smiling knowingly.

Tara smiled back.  "Yeah.  Totally."

Her brow furrowed, and Tara swallowed to wet her throat.  Maybe she’d keep that blindfold.  For, uh, _reasons_.  “I thought it wasn’t a good idea to combine magic and sex, as a rule?” Faith asked.

She was grateful Faith couldn't see the grin on her lips at that moment, it allowed her to keep the secret for just a little longer.  "Nudity and sex aren't the same thing, Faith.  But yes, using magic to enhance sexual feelings isn’t generally a good idea, that’s true.  It can be addictive, and not unlike using magic for power and control.”  Willow being the ultimate example of that.  But they were all past that now. 

“Not exactly comforting me here, T.”

“Besides,” Tara continued, ignoring her as she retrieved the gourd and continued mixing, “ _some people_ don’t need to have their sex drives enhanced.”  Seriously, the idea of Faith with an even greater sex-drive was less arousing than it was terrifying.

Faith smiled, rolling her strong shoulders like she was very pleased with myself.  “What can I say?  I have needs.”

Tara smiled back.  There was a time when she used to wonder if Faith’s sex-drive was a Faith thing, or a slayer thing.  But honestly, after living in close-quarters with several hundred of them, and going through numerous old watcher and slayer diaries, she’d long ago reached the conclusion that it was really just a Faith thing.

And even after two years together, that drive hadn’t diminished by even a fraction.  It could be… exhausting.

“I, erm, noticed,” she said eventually.

Now that the potion was mixed, Tara scooted closer to Faith and set the gourd down beside them.  Faith’s smug smile faded when Tara pressed her sternum and guided her back to the floor.

Despite herself, Tara let her eyes roam across Faith’s naked form, as the candles around them continued burning high and bright.  Just a minute, and the spell would be ready.

“T?”

Soon it wasn’t just her eyes roaming across her body, but her hands.  Faith’s muscles flexed at the light touch to her chest, and strong legs pushed her body up when Tara attempted to draw her fingers away, yearning for even the slightest contact.

Perhaps Tara was being cruel, but it was okay if Faith got a little frustrated.

Then, just as she had practiced alone for the past few days - because yeah, there was no way she was asking for anyone’s help for this particular aspect of the spell – Tara picked up the rope and tied Faith's wrists together above her head. 

Faith’s breath hitched.  “Jesus, T, you’re killing me here.”

“Conjugate the verb 'iungere'.  To join."

Faith stilled, momentarily surprised by the request, but she did as commanded.  "Iungo.  Iungis.  Iungit..."

It was an unexpected boon that she had been learning Latin.  Tara had cards prepared for Faith to read from, but now she was unwittingly participating in it, and the fact that she understood what she was saying on some level would increase the likelihood of a successful spell.  There was no need to tell her about all the hours Tara had spent alone in her room, chanting over crystals to prepare them for such a simple activation phrase.

Meanwhile, Tara had the gourd in her hand again, watching as the mixture inside shone a bright blue and began to swirl.  The bright light went completely unnoticed by Faith, arching over them both like one of the fountains along the Strip and falling precisely on the ring of salt Tara had made, forming a magical field whose energy warmed Tara’s body like the noonday desert sun.

When Faith finished, her last few words sounding more like questions that statements, the cord of rope shone a bright blue as the mixture had done.

Perfect.

“Okay,” Tara breathed.  “Try to break the rope now.”

When her first attempt failed, Faith put some real strength in it, only to remain frustrated.  Tara was quick to settle herself on Faith's lap.  This was the part that most worried her.  They'd never attempted something like this before.  Under normal circumstances, it was pointless to try to restrain a slayer like Faith, but here she was, powerless to move.  Now that the spell was activated, she should struggle to so much as rise off the ground.  Magic pinned her legs to the floor as though gravity were a hundred times stronger than it really was.

" _Fuck!_ "

Tara drew her hand along Faith's bicep.  "Shh..."

The soft caress soothed the rising tension. 

She’d wondered, would tying Faith down bring out memories of time spent in prison, or perhaps, other memories of darker times even further back that Faith never spoke of?  Thankfully, it hadn’t seemed to.  Faith was admirably resilient, always in the present instead of the past.  It was just another quality of hers that Tara wished she possessed.  She soon stilled under Tara’s weight.

“Shit, T.  Won’t I hurt you when this thing snaps?”

Tara leaned forward, hair falling softly on skin.  “You can’t hurt me as long as we’re in the circle.”

Faith shivered.  “Really?”

“Really.  You don’t have to hold back in here.”

Faith immediately tried the bonds again, growling, arms flexing, before cursing when they still wouldn’t budge.  “Damn.  Gotta say, this is pretty kinky, T.” 

Tara smiled to herself.  Yeah, it was.  That was part of the spell’s appeal.  “When you can break the bonds, we’ll know the spell was a success.”

“And what happens then?”

“Then, the powers of a thousand slayers past will be coursing through your veins, and a monster that would take a dozen of our finest girls to slay will be easily defeated: by you alone.”

“Please.  I bet I could kill that thing myself, spell or no spell.”

Tara smirked.  Faith didn’t even know what the monster was called, let alone that it was fifty-feet tall and covered in thorns.  “I honestly think you could, but,” she brushed the back of her fingers against Faith’s cheek, “I don’t want to risk you.”

Her expression turned soft.  As a custom, they rarely spoke about stuff like this.  Faith was much more comfortable with physical affection than verbal.  “Always lookin’ out for me, huh?” she asked, arms resting on the floor again.

“Yeah,” Tara replied, equally softly.  Faith flinched to feel hot breath against her cheek.  The candles were now burning high and hot again, but this time it was what they were supposed to do.  Sustained by magic, they would last as long as they had to.

“T, you’re making it really hard to concentrate.”

“Good.  That’s the second part of the spell.”

“Huh?”

"I will channel power into you until you can break the bond."

Faith swallowed.  "And, uh, how are you going to do that?"

Without a word, her hands slid across Faith's body, lower and lower...

" _Fuck_."

She shouldn’t have been able to lift her hips under the magical weight keeping her bound, but still, Faith jerked and nearly threw Tara off.

Really, Tara should’ve expected that.  Next time, use more of the blue crystals, she told herself.

“Wait,” Faith rasped.  “What’s the blindfold for?”

“To help you focus,” she replied.  "Concentrate on what you’re feeling.  And try to last longer than a few minutes."  Smiling, Tara clung tighter and began placing kisses to her neck, deliberately dragging her legs softly across Faith’s.  “You don’t want to embarrass yourself.”

A look of surprise flashed across Faith’s face.  She wasn’t used to Tara speaking to her this way, but today it was finally safe to stoke the fire as much as she wanted, and see just how brightly it could burn.  The brighter, the better.

Tara marveled in the way Faith squirmed as she drew down, muscles flexing as she planted kisses over each breast, then her tense stomach, then lower and lower.

Faith bucked, straining against the strength of the spell.  Tara had never felt in danger, making love to someone so strong.  Faith had always been careful with her, and there were plenty of spells in her arsenal she could use to protect herself.  Never had to use them even once, but Faith had always been holding back.  Now, protected in this magical field of light, she could truly let go.

Fortunately, the magic surrounding them also formed an effective barrier against sound.  After all, they wouldn’t want to get kicked out of their room after only just arriving.

When Tara’s lips and tongue finally hit the spot that craved the most attention, Faith bucked again and became very loud indeed, banging her head against the rug as her arms struggled with the bonds.

It was completely ineffectual, but Tara kept her grip on Faith’s thighs, pressing her down, and kneading strong muscles as they strained to move.  This probably said something about secret desires, the fact that Tara could be so turned on by the idea of having such a powerful woman as Faith completely helpless beneath her.  She knew enough to be certain it wasn’t just the magic in the air making her feel that way.

Faith let out a long moan that morphed into a growl, Tara answering with a hum of her own as her tongue delved deeper.  She was writhing on the floor now, dark hair tossing from side to side as her cries grew louder and her mouth emitted an impressive amount of profanity even for her.

The magic was welling up within them both.  Tara could feel it.

It wouldn’t be long now.

“Fuck, Tara, I’m gonna…”

Pinned as she was between strong thighs, Tara wasn’t about to check the clock.  Couldn’t have been more than five minutes.  Faith had never been one to take her time.

Or at least she wouldn’t the first time.  The rest of the night could be a different story entirely.  Tara knew that from long experience.

“Fuck!”

White magic swirled around them, obscuring the world beyond the circle like watching a hurricane churn from the center of the eye.  Faith’s fists clenched, knuckles white, when the bonds securing her cracked and finally snapped with a blinding flash of blue light as she screamed her release.

Then the storm hit: a wave of white magic unlike anything she had ever felt in her life.  Briefly, Tara saw flashes of memories that were not hers as the energy seemed to rush through her, then into Faith.

Ancient Rome, China, Mexico…  A thousand slayers; a thousand lifetimes passing through her eyes.

There was no time to react before Faith’s newly freed hands grasped her, pulling them tightly together with such energy that it ripped open Tara’s shirt before Faith brought her to the floor.  She held herself above Tara, panting hard for a long minute, nostrils flaring as the magic settled.  A little stunned, Tara cautiously reached out with her hands, one stroking the skin of Faith’s waist, the other reaching for the blindfold.

When she pulled it free, Faith’s eyes were wide and unfocused, as though she didn’t know where she was, or even who she was.  Impulsively, Tara brought their lips together.  She could taste the power in her.  Faith’s entire body thrummed with it.

Gently, Tara stroked her, easing Faith down from her climax.  The magical light-show around them faded, and Faith’s form, glistening with sweat, was instead bathed in the warm glow of the rising sun.

After pulling away, Tara blinked, marveling at the bewildered look still in her girlfriend’s eyes.  She gently pushed Faith up, relieved that she even allowed herself to be moved.  According to Buffy, she had been completely not herself when the enjoining spell took control of her body.  This spell shouldn’t have been as powerful as that, but then, it hadn’t been performed in thousands of years, so who could have said for sure?

“Holy shit,” Faith said finally, hands still clinging to Tara’s back.  “I can feel them, all of them… like, inside my head.”  She looked rapidly around the room like she still didn’t know where she was.  She stretched out a hand in a random direction, face registering surprise at something Tara couldn’t see.  “ _Whoa_.”

Okay, her girlfriend was channeling Keanu Reeves.  This was getting a little concerning.

Tara put her hands on Faith’s shoulders to keep her still.  The immense power remained, something Tara hadn’t felt since the spell that activated all the world’s slayers.  If Faith so chose, she could probably destroy her right now and not even know she had done it. 

Yet, Tara knew that wouldn’t happen.

Finally, Faith’s eyes focused, her hands grasping Tara by her own shoulders.  "Os gar es s’,” she began, her husky voice enhanced by the faint echoes of a hundred others, “idô broche’ ôs me phônê- s’ ouden et’ eikei."

Tara swallowed, memories of Buffy’s description of the enjoining spell running through her mind.  But this wasn’t Sumerian, or even Latin.  It was Greek.  She frowned.  Was Faith still in there?

Growing increasingly worried, Tara gently shook her shoulders.  “Come on, Faith.  Come back to me.”

Faith blinked, then responded by sliding hands over skin and cupping Tara’s breasts.

Tara smiled down at her as the expression on Faith’s face went from confusion, to lucidity, to humor.  “Hey, T.”  This time, her voice was entirely her own.

Tara let out a sigh of relief.  “Stay with me, Faith.  I don’t want you getting possessed, or unstuck in time or something.”

“Yeah,” Faith replied, nodding firmly.  “Don’t want to be anywhere else in time and space than right here, right now.”

Tara gave a little gasp, cheeks turning pink.  "You sure you're still you?"

"Yeah,” she nodded.  “Just a little crowded in my head is all."

"You're okay though?"

"Mmhmm.  Just feel kind of worked up, like I could take on a million vampires at once."

Something about her presence seemed to confirm that.  Faith had a glow about her now.  Not a real one - that would be a little hard to explain to the people down in the lobby - but a sensation that seemed to pour from her body, like she was now a magical, even divine being.  The spell had worked.

“Just curious,” Tara replied, brushing Faith’s mussed-up hair out of her eyes.  “You aren’t usually so romantic.”

A frown slipped across her face for an instant before it morphed into a wolfish grin.  She was still kneading Tara’s breasts.  “You call this romantic?”

Tara shrugged, smiling back.

Her voice went soft.  “You’re too good for me, T.”

“No.  I’m not,” Tara said, with some firmness.  Faith still needed that firmness of tone from time to time.   Perhaps she always would.

She averted her eyes, focusing on the space between them, hair falling in front of her eyes in a way that reminded Tara of herself so many years ago.  “I can feel that too, you know?”

“Feel what?”

Eyes shone in the light of the rising sun when she met Tara’s gaze again.  “Your magic.  It’s like, surrounding me or something.  Protecting me.  I can feel it.”

“Oh,” Tara said, blushing.  “That’s just part of the spell.”

Faith shook her head.  “I can always feel it.  Ever since we..." she trailed off.  "In the car, on patrol, anywhere.  It never lets me forget.”

Tara gently stroked her shoulder, unsure what to say.

“I’m glad,” Faith continued.  “Even when we're on opposite sides of the planet.  I can remember that feeling.  Keeps me from doing stupid shit.”

Still speechless, Tara pressed forward until she was practically in Faith’s lap, and then kissed her.  “I’m glad too,” she said, once she was sure she’d confirmed that physically.

Faith was still looking uncharacteristically shy.  “I don’t know how to say all the shit I want to say to you…”  Then, suddenly, an orange light seemed to shine in her eyes, and the words came pouring out.  All in Greek, Tara was fairly sure, but in some ancient dialect she wasn’t familiar with.  Just as quick as it started, the words stopped and Faith sighed.  “Out of my head, slayer.”

Tara raised an eyebrow.

“Some of the slayers in my head… they’re trying to give me relationship advice.”

“Oh?" Tara asked, unable to hide the humor in her voice.  "What are they suggesting?”

She sighed again.  “Several of them want me to recite more poetry, but they can’t seem to decide on a language.  Three of them feel I should ride off on my horse and slay all of your enemies to win your favor -” 

Tara smiled at the idea.  It wasn’t too unlike how they got together in the first place. 

“Oh, and one thinks I should slaughter my finest cow and present it to your highest-ranking kinsman.”

“I, uh, think I prefer poetry.”

“We’ll just have to agree to disagree there.  I’m kind of… hungry.”  She waggled her eyebrows.

Of course she was.  "So,” Tara asked, “how many are you hearing?  Dozens?"

“Hundreds," Faith corrected, "Thousands, maybe.  Some are angry, some jealous, but I think a lot of them are kind of sad…”

Tara swallowed.  The life of a slayer was in most cases, hard, lonely, and short.  Faith was living a life that they all deserved, but most could only have dreamt of.

“Guess I really am lucky.”

She smiled back, speechless once again.

“Are all the world’s slayers really in my head, you think?”

Tara stroked Faith’s still glistening skin.  “Not exactly.  It’s more like their spirits are in there, entwined with the essence of the slayer.”

Faith’s brow furrowed.  “If Buffy calls me and asks why she just had the biggest orgasm of her life, I’m totally blaming you.”

Tara cringed.  “You don’t feel _her_ in there, do you?”  Talk about awkward.

She shook her head.  “It’s all a jumble, really, like a dream.  I see flashes of things, places I’ve never been to, but every time I wrap my hands around a specific name, it slips away.”

“But they speak to you?” Tara asked, curious.

“Yeah.  They want to slay…” her eyes flashed, wickedly, “but they’re also jealous of my smoking hot girlfriend.”

Tara rolled her eyes.

“ _Please_.  You know you are.”

However she felt about herself, it was hard not to feel beautiful when Faith was looking at her like that, especially now as her hair seemed to float in a non-existent breeze, and her formerly brown eyes shone the color of flame.  It wasn’t the sun making them glow like that.

“I knew all the girls were jealous of me,” Faith continued, grinning.  “Nice to have that confirmed.”

Tara scoffed.  “Great.  I’ve boosted your ego along with your strength.”

Gently, Faith pushed Tara back to the floor and straddled her.  “Not gonna lie.  Lots of girls want to be me.  Now more than ever,” she added, eyeing Tara’s body covetously.  “Maybe I should remind you just how hot you are.”  Tara gasped, but her eyes went wide when Faith didn’t close the distance between their lips as she expected.  “T?” she whispered.  “How long’s this spell supposed to last anyway?”

Tara swallowed, throat dry as the desert air with Faith pinning her in place with strong arms and still-glowing eyes.  “Half a day,” she whispered back, “give or take an hour.”

“And where’s this demon I’m supposed to slay?”

“It’s close to Red Rock Canyon.  Half an hour’s drive, and maybe two hours of hiking through the desert.”

“Good,” she said, drawing closer.  “We’ve got lots of time then.”

**Author's Note:**

> Woo, shameless smut! Thought I'd try my hand at my other Buffyverse otp, Faith x Tara, since yeah, feels. I wrote this one pretty fast (fast for me anyway), so, uh, sorry about any errors *shrug emoji*
> 
> I did briefly consider a Buffy x Faith version of this story, or even a Buffy x Faith x Tara version, but such a release of magic would've leveled several city blocks and killed thousands of people and you don't want that on your conscience, DO YOU??? I thought not.
> 
> Anyway, thx for reading! :D


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